The Last Of Us Gets A Sci-Fi Twist In Netflix's 6-Part Masterpiece Returning For Season 2

Published Jun 30, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT

Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering everything from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi epics.

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While there are plenty of TV series set after a zombie apocalypse, few capture the psychological toll and moral compromises of survival quite like The Last of Us. Instead of treating the infected as the main attraction, TLOU uses its premise as a lens to explore the psychological toll of adaptation and survival. Anyone who appreciates this creative approach should make The Eternaut their next watch, as it applies the same emotional realism to a completely different kind of apocalypse.

Premiering on Netflix in April 2025, with season 2 in development, Argentine sci-fi show The Eternaut follows a group of ordinary survivors after a mysterious toxic snowfall devastates Buenos Aires before an alien invasion begins to unfold. What The Last of Us accomplished for zombie horror, The Eternaut is now doing for alien invasion stories. It strips away spectacle in favor of deeply human storytelling, creating an experience unlike anything else currently available on Netflix, or anywhere else.

The Eternaut & The Last Of Us Both Make The Apocalypse Take A Back Seat

On the surface, The Last of Us and The Eternaut seem to have very little in common. One revolves around a zombie-spawning fungal pandemic, while the other begins with a mysterious snowfall that instantly kills anyone exposed before revealing a far greater extraterrestrial threat. However, beneath those different sci-fi premises, both series are fundamentally telling the same story.

Both The Last of Us and The Eternaut are tales of how ordinary people respond when civilization suddenly disappears. Neither focuses on larger-than-life action heroes. Instead, The Last of Us has everyman Joel (Pedro Pascal) and teen Ellie (Bella Ramsey), while The Eternaut takes an equally grounded approach through Juan Salvo (Ricardo Darín), whose only real strength is his determination to protect those around him and keep moving despite overwhelming odds.

Perhaps the strongest thematic similarity lies in how both shows revolve around the importance of found family. Survival isn't simply about gathering weapons or finding food. It's about building trust with other people when trust has become almost impossible. Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us gradually become each other's emotional anchor despite their reluctance to form attachments. Likewise, Juan's group in The Eternaut survives because individuals learn to put the needs of the collective above their own.

In both cases, the apocalypse ultimately becomes secondary to human moments between characters. The infected in The Last of Us and the alien invasion in The Eternaut provide the backdrop, but the emotional journeys remain the true focus. Loss, sacrifice, hope, and resilience carry far more weight than infected attacks or deadly snowfall, making both series feel remarkably intimate despite the scale of their disasters.

Netflix's The Eternaut Is A Sci-Fi Show With A Strong Message

Fans drawn to the emotional storytelling of The Last of Us will almost certainly find plenty to admire in The Eternaut. However, while The Last of Us largely centers on the evolving relationship between Joel and Ellie, The Eternaut casts a much wider thematic net. It has strong political undertones too, with clear messages about the importance of resistance to authoritarianism and the power of collective effort. Rather than presenting Juan as a lone savior destined to rescue humanity, The Eternaut repeatedly emphasizes that survival depends on cooperation.

These themes in The Eternaut have deep historical roots stretching back to the source material for the show, Héctor Germán Oesterheld's 1957 graphic novel El Eternauta. Written after the overthrow of Juan Domingo Perón by a military junta, the story reflected the growing climate of repression and authoritarianism in Argentina. Netflix's adaptation preserves this foundation. The alien invasion in the show remains a metaphor for authoritarian control and the erosion of social trust.

This philosophical depth is what ultimately elevates The Eternaut above many other sci-fi shows both on Netflix and elsewhere. It still delivers large-scale spectacle, but it also never loses sight of the ideas underpinning its story. Much like The Last of Us transformed zombie fiction into a profound exploration of humanity, The Eternaut uses an alien invasion to examine politics and collective resilience.